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Lycaena hippothoe

Purple Edged Copper

Bern, Switzerland, July 2006

Vaud, Switzerland, July 2006

Valais, Switzerland, July 2006

Valais, Switzerland, July 2006

Valais, Switzerland, July 2005

Valais, Switzerland, July 2005

Valais, Switzerland, July 2005

Valais, Switzerland, July 2004

A hint of purple on this example of eurydame.

Valais, Switzerland, July 2004

Piedmont, Italy, June 2004

Classic eurydame with reduced black and no purple reflections.

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

A stunning individual. More photos below.

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

A stunning individual. More photos below.

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

Female

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

NW Italy, July 2003

More typical individual with somewhat less purple

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001

Some males of this species can be absolutely stunning, as in the first photo above. They are bright shiny orange red and varying extent of purple sheen that changes with the angle of viewing. The male above has much more purple than any other specimen I've seen. Subspecies eurydame flies in the Alps. It lacks the purple reflections found elsewhere on the typical subspecies hippothoe.

Its range matches closely that of the Scarce Copper, L. virgaureae, flying in northern Spain and eastwards from eastern France, north to Scandinavia but not as far south being replaced in the Balkans by the very similar Balkan Copper, L. candens. It is a butterfly of damp flowery meadows and roadside ditches.